NOTES for Co1 11:23-26

The sacrament of the Eucharist was instituted on the very night when Jesus was betrayed to death. The apostle Paul says that when we receive this Bread and this Cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death. Like Baptism, the Eucharist unites us with Christ in His sufferings—and therefore in His glory. The Eucharist is the clearest evidence that God sees the human person only as a whole and that every attempt to separate and delimit soul and body is essentially artificial. He enters our hearts not only through the word, but through bread and wine. Many of the holy fathers said that He takes the form of bread so as not to frighten us, for eating human flesh would indeed be terrifying. The sacrament of the Eucharist is like a blood transfusion: His Flesh and Blood are united with ours and gradually transform us. In this sacrament He gives Himself to us completely, just as He gave His life on the cross. And it is through this very sacrament that He enables us to give ourselves completely to Him and to be united with Him in all fullness.